Greater Seoul transit discount cards give commuters lots of options

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Greater Seoul transit discount cards give commuters lots of options

Published: 23 Jan. 2024, 18:56 Updated: 24 Jan. 2024, 14:46

LEE SOO-JUNG
lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr

A public transportation user buys an unlimited monthly transit pass launched by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the “Climate Card,” at Gwanghwamun Station in central Seoul on Tuesday, the day sales of the card began. The pass will be effective starting from Saturday. [YONHAP]

The national and local governments are rolling out transit passes with different benefits, giving millions of public transportation users plenty of options.

People living in the greater Seoul area have four options — the Climate Card, K-pass, The Gyeonggi Pass and I-pass.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will offer its Climate Card, a prepaid unlimited transit pass priced at 62,000 or 65,000 won ($46.5 to $48.7) — the latter includes a bicycle rental option.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will launch a K-pass that reimburses a percentage of already-paid transportation costs.

A comparison table of the transit passes [AHN DA-YOUNG]

Gyeonggi and Incheon are adding additional benefits to the K-pass with The Gyeonggi Pass and I-Pass, respectively.

While Seoul’s Climate Card is uniquely prepaid, the other three provide refunds the following month.

The Climate Card began sales on Tuesday and will be effective from Saturday.

The Climate Card offers unlimited rides only for Seoul’s intracity buses and metro. It excludes the Shinbundang Line and intercity buses connecting Seoul and adjacent Gyeonggi and Incheon.

On the other hand, the K-pass provides benefits only up to 60 rides for commuters who take public transportation more than 15 times a month.

The Gyeonggi Provincial Government's public transportation reimbursement program ″The Gyeonggi Pass″ will roll out with the Land Ministry's ″K-pass″ in May. [THE GYEONGGI PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT]

The Gyeonggi Pass and I-Pass employ the same system but offer reimbursements for unlimited rides.

The K-pass, The Gyeonggi Pass and I-Pass cover the Shinbundang Line and intercity buses, which Seoul’s Climate Card excludes. They will also partially refund the fares of the Great Train Express (GTX), which is set to begin operation in March.

However, the refund rates for the GTX and intercity buses have yet to be confirmed, as their fares are relatively pricier than regular subways and buses.

Additionally, the passes have different refund rates according to the user’s age and income tier.

The K-pass offers a 30-percent refund for young adults between 19 and 34, while Gyeonggi and Incheon enlarged the scope of young adults to 39 with the same refund ratio.

Low-income users qualify for a 53-percent reimbursement. Other users are eligible for a 20 percent refund.

K-pass users between 19 and 34 can receive a refund of 450 won per 1,500-won ride. If the user takes public transportation 60 times, he could earn a refund of 27,000 won monthly.

Users as old as 39 can enjoy the same benefits from The Gyeonggi Pass or I-Pass.

Low-income users could receive a maximum of 48,000 won each month, while other users can receive 18,000 won in return.

“Seoulites can freely choose the most rewarding option, considering which modes of transportation they use,” an official from the Land Ministry’s Metropolitan Transport Commission said.

The Climate Card benefits Seoulites commuting inside the city whose monthly transit expenditures exceed 90,000 won. With each fare priced at 1,500 won, a Seoulite using the K-pass can earn a refund of just 18,000 won.

However, if a commuter's monthly transportation expenses fall below 83,000 won, using the K-pass is cheaper. In this scenario, K-pass's reimbursement is larger than the saved amount from the Climate Card.

President Yoon Suk Yeol sits in the cockpit of a GTX-A train in Dongtan Station, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, on Nov. 6, 2023. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Although transit passes are intended to relieve the burden on public transportation users, problems remain. Operating deficits will be directly transferred to the central and local governments.

To make up the deficit, the national and local authorities earmarked 160 billion won in budget outlays for this year alone.

Localities and the central government will equally split the burden, except Seoul, which will cover 60 percent of the shortfall.

The Seoul City allocated 75 billion won just for its five-month-long pilot program for its Climate Card. This would mean the monthly budget could be 15 billion won or 180 billion won annually. The burden will only grow as more people use the Climate Card.

Gyeonggi and Incheon will likely find funding more pressing as they should reimburse fares for unlimited rides on pricey intercity buses and the GTX.

Land Minister Park Sang-woo, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Gyeonggi Governor Kim Dong-yeon and Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok shake hands at a joint press conference at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul on Monday. [MINISTRY OF LAND, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND TRANSPORT]

“The authorities will cooperate to solve traffic and transportation problems in the greater Seoul area,” said Land Minister Park Sang-woo, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Dong-yeon, and Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok at a joint press conference at Korea Press Center in central Seoul on Monday.

BY KANG KAP-SAENG, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]